DOHA: US special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad met the Afghan Taliban to discuss peace negotiations in Doha for the first time since President Joe Biden took office.
Taliban spokesman Muhamad Naeem tweeted that Khalilzad and the top US general in Afghanistan met with the Taliban’s negotiating team in Doha, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
“Both sides expressed their commitment to the Doha agreement and discussed its full implementation. Likewise, the current situation of Afghanistan and the rapidity and effectiveness of the Intra-Afghan negotiations were discussed,” he wrote.
The envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, held talks earlier this week with Afghan leaders in Kabul, including President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, chair of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation which oversees the government’s talks with the Taliban in Qatar.
Speculation is rife over America’s future in Afghanistan after the White House announced plans to review a withdrawal deal brokered by Khalilzad and the Taliban in Doha last year.
Under that agreement, the US is set to withdraw from Afghanistan in May, but a surge in fighting has sparked concerns that a speedy exit may unleash greater chaos as peace talks between the Kabul government and Taliban continue to stall.
The accord states that the US will withdraw all troops from Afghanistan, with the Taliban promising not to allow the territory to be used by terrorists — the original goal of the US invasion following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Khalilzad’s visit marks the first time he has publicly returned to Qatar since US President Joe Biden took office in January and asked him to stay on in his post.
Earlier, the envoy had said that violence was too high in the country and the Afghan government and Taliban must work harder toward forging a ceasefire.
Zalmay Khalilzad made his comments ahead of flying to Doha to meet with the two sides. “I return to the region disappointed that despite commitments to lower violence, it has not happened. The window to achieve a political settlement will not stay open forever,” he wrote in a tweet.
The talks between a government delegation and the Taliban have been going on in Doha since mid-September, but progress has been slow and the rising violence back home is sapping trust. The sides are often at odds on even the most basic issues.
“The sides must move past procedure and into substantive negotiations,” Khalilzad’s office said in a statement on Tuesday. There needed to be “an agreement on a reduction of violence leading to a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire,” he said.
